The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: DVD Review

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

From the director of Shakespeare in Love comes the tale of a group of seven British OAPs who decide to spend their retirement in a hotel in India, having "outsourced" their twilight years.

There's Evelyn, a newly widowed housewife (Judi Dench); Douglas and Jean (Nighy and Wilton) whose lost investment in their daughter's business means they're now broke; Graham (Wilkinson), a retired court judge who grew up in India; ageing lothario Norman (Pickup); Madge, a similarly aged nymphomanic (Imrie) and Muriel (Smith), a bitter lonely racist who has to head for India to get a hip operation.

Unfortunately for the group, the hotel is a lot less than the brochure promised - it's somewhat ramshackle despite the best attempts of would be manager Sonny (Slumdog's Dev Patel) to try and bring investment into it.

But gradually in their own ways, the group begins to adjust to life there - or in two cases, not so much - and find that even in their later years, there's still much on offer from the world around them.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is one of those films the word "nice" was invented for; it's a crowd pleasing, snuggly jumper of a film which, while a little overlong, exudes a warm fuzziness and glow which extends beyond you leaving the cinema.

In a very well put together opening sequence, as we're introduced to the characters, we're given all of their backstory and all we need to know about them right away. It's a nice touch and a cleverly deft piece of direction which Madden handles well. 

There's plenty of humour on display too - Dame Maggie Smith's racist and elderly Muriel says of the time they have left on earth being so short "that she doesn't even buy green bananas." It's this kind of humour which permeates the stereotypes of the British abroad story and while occasionally it's predictable, it will be lapped up - no doubt as a level of recognition shines through.

Each of the main cast gets their moment to shine; Dench and Nighy stand out in this ensemble and Wilkinson adds a poignancy to his high court judge. Perhaps the only exception is Patel's Sonny who feels a little sidelined towards the end of the film. India gets a little time to shine as the backdrop but it's never front and central to the action, giving you a taster of life in this love and relationships drama.

Overall, you can see exactly what's coming in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; the racist whose eyes will be opened; the widower who will step out from her dead husband's shadow; the bickering couple who will discover where their future happiness lies and an Indian who's threatened by an arranged marriage - it's all perfectly obvious what will transpire. And while there will be some who'll roll their eyes as this plays out on the screen, there will be many - including a larger elderly contingent of the audience who will recognise a lot of the universal frustrations - who'll lap up this middle of the road pleasantly watchable and charming dramedy.

Extras: Welcome to the real hotel, casting legends piece, behind the story and other mini docos.
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Darksiders 2 - Game Review

Darksiders 2 - Game Review

Released by THQ
Platform: PS3

Here comes Death.

Well, more specifically, one of the four horsemen in this new action/adventurer game from THQ, which is the sequel to Darksiders but takes place around the same time. A parallel-a-game if you will..

When fellow Brother horseman War is taken captive and blamed for starting Armageddon, Death sets out to prove his brother's innocence and rescue him.

Resembling a sort of dreadlocked Skeletor, this version of Death is mad, bad and angry and determined to save his brother. So it's into the realm he goes, into a frozen world where crystal creatures are ready to break through the ice and beat seven shades of, erm, death out of him.

Starting off in Darksiders 2 entails a bit of training on how to walk along walls and of course, wield the axe and attack the baddies, lurking around. You can't block attacks (aside from cutaway sequences in the middle of fights which require you to mash the Square button) but you can wield some pretty impressive damage here and there. Each attack throws up a barrel of numbers above the creatures, in something akin to RPG board games years and years ago, before they're beaten down.

Treasure, weapons, health potions all lie around defeated enemies for the taking - and gradually, you get to wield more weapons and unleash more chaos.

A heady mix of quests, puzzles and combat make up the majority of this game play and it does actually take a bit of time to take down the level bosses; in fact, an early fight was actually a lot tougher than expected and nearly reduced me to giving up on Darksiders 2.

Thankfully, a bit of perseverance and some frantic button pressing got me past that and into a world which is entrancing, captivating and a lot more fun than you would have expected. Darksiders 2 is eminently playable and enjoyable - Death's never been so much fun.

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How Far Is Heaven : Movie Review

How Far Is Heaven : Movie Review

Cast: The people of Jerusalem
Director: Christopher Pryor and Miriam Smith

Originally premiering in the New Zealand International Film Festival, How Far is Heaven now finally gets a wider release.

This doco spends time in the community of Jerusalem, just outside Whanganui, where the majesty of the river flows through the heart of the community. It's here the Sisters of Compassion have lived for the past 120 years - and today, only three nuns remain.

This film follows the life of Sister Margaret Mary over a year - she's a regular volunteer at the school; by spending time with her and the community, the cameras capture not only the majesty of the surrounding landscape but the diminishing role played by the Sisters in the community which is becoming more staunchly Maori.

But as well as charting the divides between Christianity and Maori beliefs within the community, it also concentrates on the kids of the area, whose various views veer from fear of the local taniwha to general impishness and refusal to be anything other than cheeky when day to day life comes calling.

How Far Is Heaven is a picturesque, vitally important document of community here in Aotearoa these days; it captures an innocence of children and a vital paradigm and paradox of tradition and its contrasts. All of it among some truly wonderfully done cinematography. With a blissfully judge free approach to all sides of the community, the filmmakers have crafted together something which is both respectful and moving, a portrait of a life many of us will never see and experience but whose very existence is central to our own.

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Total Recall: Movie Review

Total Recall: Movie Review

Cast: Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, John Cho, Bill Nighy
Director: Len Wiseman

It's the 2012 version of Total Recall...this time with no Arnie in sight.

Following the break out of a chemical Third World War which devastated the planet, the world is divided into two major colonies in the 21st Century - the United Federations of Britain and The Colonies.

The two ends of the Earth are joined by a giant gravity elevator, The Fall, which joins them via the Earth's core - and is used daily as a commute for the workers. 

Factory worker Douglas Quaid (Farell) leads a boring existence; he has a crummy job working on building robot synthetic police, lives in a bit of a slum and with a beautiful wife, Lori (Beckinsale).

Troubled by nightmares in which he appears to be a spy, Quaid decides to visit Rekall, a company which provides its clients with fake memories of a life they'd like to lead.

But when the trip to Rekall goes haywire, Quaid finds himself on the run.

This Total Recall remake ramps up the political aspects of the original and leaves aside any notion of anything other than mediocrity.

Granted, Wiseman's created a dark and greying dystopian future, with cityscapes which have hints of Blade Runner and slums proliferating his United Federal Britain and the Colonies.

But it's a CGI shade too far and gives the whole experience a distinct computer game feel, with sections playing out like the latest videogame - escape from Rekall, escape over rooftops, run from the synths, avoid your wife who's trying to shoot the hell out of you etc etc.

Still it is Len Wiseman after all - he who created the slow mo violence of the Underworld series, a trick he employs once again here as bullets fly right from the start.

Farrell acts better than Schwarzenegger (that's a given perhaps) but there is never any real edge to his continually confused and on the run Quaid throughout; Biel is a little more than just wet as his resistance co-fighter, Nighy is criminally underused as the leader of the insurgence, Matthias; Cranston manages to keep it the right side of evil rather than hamming it up as Cohaagen, a politico hell-bent on world domination and Beckinsale is a hard faced but yet pouty would be killer/wife from hell.

Shots of hordes of white synthetic robots toward the end recall Attack of the Clones; there's no trip to Mars as in the original and the whole thing has an inexorable sense of deja vu.

Yet occasionally, there are some pleasing visual touches- a flying car chase scene provides some thrills and breaks up the continual Farrell vs Beckinsale chases; plus some of the potential upgrades of technology deployed look totally plausible and just within our reach.

It's a shame because the 2012 version of Total Recall could have done with a little more of that spark of originality rather than trotting out predictably formulaic action sequences which make the whole film instantly forgettable and present a spectacle, lacking in real grandeur. Whereas the original film had iconic moments and ones which have lived on for good or for bad, this latest, really doesn't have anything which lingers long in the mind afterwards.

In summary, my question is a simple one - where do I sign up to get my memory wiped?

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The Forgiveness of Blood: DVD Review

The Forgiveness of Blood: DVD Review

Rating: PG
Released by Madman Home Entertainment

Blood feud may not be something many of us know too much about, but in some countries it's a way of life.

Joshua Marton directs this story about honour and how 2 teens from the same family are caught up in one such feud after their father and friend kill a neighbour over a land access issue.

However, the eldest boy Nik doesn't realise his leaving the house after the feud is invoked could result in his death.

Angry at the confines of the past ruining his life,he tries to find a way out-and it's one which could see him forced to leave his life behind.

Sensationally performed by two unknown young actors,this drama is slow burning and powerful from beginning to end;with a fascinating story sensitively handled by an excellent director, it's truly stand out stuff which sees innocence shattered by choices, cultures and obligations imposed on family bonds by those who're no longer around. 

Highly recommended and one of the best dramas on show this year - well, so far anyway.

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Battleship: Blu Ray Review

Battleship: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

From director Peter Berg, comes Battleship the film based on the boardgame we all played in our youth.

Taylor Kitsch stars as Alex Hopper, who starts the film as a kind of feckless waster and out with his brother Stone (Skarsgard) to celebrate his birthday; when in walks blonde bombshell Samatha (Decker). Smitten, Hopper ends up being tasered and arrested after breaking in to a convenience store to get some food to impress the girl....

Tired of his brother's mess ups, Stone, a Commanding officer in the Navy enlists his brother - cue a little while later and the pair are about to embark on naval war games. But Alex can't stay out of trouble and one altercation later with colleagues on the boat and he's facing being kicked out of the navy at the end of the games.

Trouble is the boss of the navy (Liam Neeson) also happens to be Samantha's dad - whom Alex needs to get permission from for marriage...

That's the least of his worries when an alien invasion force, known as the Regents, shows up in the middle of the games, having been contacted by a signal sent from Earth years ago....and they're not here to play, throwing up shields and keeping the world's armed forces out..

Soon, Earth's under threat and it's all down to the naval team, who's trapped within the shield to try and save the day....

It's hard to know exactly where to start with Battleship.

There's a scene in the trailer where Alexander Skarsgard's character is smacked across the face with a soundwave emitted from the bad guys and staggers around stunned, bloodied and lost.

That's something a little similar to how I felt during parts of Battleship as the loud, brash, FX heavy and slightly cheesy, occasionally tongue in cheek flick unrolled one action scene after another. But yet, there are moments where Berg pays such homage and respect to America's navy, it's hard to fault his intentions amid this testosterone FX fuelled rampage through blockbuster territory.

It's a gung ho piece - complete with patriotism aplenty as we take in the all American way; from a football game between Japan and American navy sides to a shot of a kid turning around sucking down a Subway drink (sponsorship anyone?) this is the kind of film which salutes the very best of America and gives it a moment on the screen.

And yet, when Berg takes a quieter approach to matters, he's to be saluted. He shows the full cost of being involved in wars and conflicts by giving Brooklyn Decker a job as a physioin an army rehab centre - and then whirls the camera around the various people afflicted by it all. (Well, right before pairing her off with an amputee who's lost his sense of worth having lost both his legs and sending them off on a quest).

Plus the sequence when the old timers are rolled out onto the final Battleship to help take down the bad guys, is the kind of thing you should really stand and salute in the cinema. All set to a raucously loud AC/DC/ generic heavy rock soundtrack, you can pretty much tell what you're gonna get with this side order of cheese.

At the end of the day, I think you know what to expect with a film like this - one that's occasionally a little more than Transformers in the water - it's a brash, ballsy, blockbuster sized slice of patriotic cheese which pummels your mind and eyeballs into submission as it rolls out over its two hours of pure brain at the door big dumb fun.

If you're going to this looking for sheer entertainment and huge no brainer thrills, then it's for you. If you're going looking for depth, then, sailor, you're all washed up.

Extras: Tour of USS Missouri, Alternate ending, preparing for battle, visual effects, the game trailer

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The Sitter - Blu Ray Review

The Sitter - Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by 20th Century Fox Home Ent

Jonah Hill heads back to the comedy stable with this R-rated fodder.

Hill is Noah, a stay at home slacker who ends up babysitting three kids to help his mum out one night. But when he gets a booty call from his on and off girlfriend, he decides to grab the kids and take them out for the night so that he can get his end away.

But that's where the problems start - each of the kids has their issues and the night gets more complicated when Noah ends up getting on the wrong side of Sam Rockwell's dealer, Karl....

The Sitter is formulaic stuff, with its main star seeming like he's simply on auto pilot.

While Hill's watchable enough, the plot is so painstakingly obvious and the humour so transparently easy to spot a mile off, even the writers phoned it in. The child actors are so - so with the youngest girl sporting a potty mouth thanks to rap songs, a foreign kid revelling in all the stereotypes and an uptight kid holding a big secret.

The Sitter is neither clever nor original - while it's mercifully short, it still fails to deliver big belly laughs and even with claims of a totally irresponsible edition (six minutes of extra nothingness), it's not a memorable R rated comedy by any stretch of the imagination.

Extras: Deleted, alternate and extended scenes, gag reel, making of and outtakes.

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